Port of Nhava Sheva

Port of Nhava Sheva

The Indian federal government pledged to go ahead with its plans to make major ports independent companies instead of government-controlled landlord ports despite fierce opposition from the highly unionized labor force.

Despite the persistent landside congestion and disruptions caused by an equipment upgrade in the last few months, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust achieved an all-time high in container movements in 2014, according to port sources.

Almost half the container vessels arriving at the Asian ports of Ho Chi Minh City, Manila and Nhava Sheva between Oct. 15 and Nov. 15 were delayed more than 12 hours, and one third of the arriving ships faced delays of more than 24 hours, CargoSmart has found.

Indian shippers already facing a wave of surcharges tied to landside congestion at major ports received another blow earlier this week when the federal government issued a decree allowing Indian Railways to charge a “port congestion surcharge” for cargo moving to inland distribution points.

Emirates Shipping Line is the latest container line to impose surcharges on India-bound cargoes in response to the months-long intermodal delays that have led to serious equipment imbalance issues at India’s premier container gateways.

The persistent congestion clogging major gateway ports in the U.S. and Europe is raising a debate about whether it’s just peak-season volumes causing delays in import shipments or the inability of ports to handle the sharp growth in container ship sizes.

Container throughput at major state-owned ports in India expanded 5.3 percent year-over-year during April to July, the first four months of fiscal year 2014-15, according to preliminary figures released by the Indian Ports Association.